Pod Point has completed the installation of 67 electric vehicle (EV) charge points for Skanska UK, one of the country’s leading contractors, at its Hertfordshire head office. The installation is believed to be one of the largest to date in Europe.

The company, which employs 6,000 people in the UK, worked with charging specialist Pod Point to install the 7kW chargepoints. The infrastructure now exists for the solution to be scaled up to 243 chargepoints in the future. The chargepoints enable Skanska employees to charge their vehicles while they work, before returning to a fully powered battery at the end of the day. The installation is part of Skanska’s commitment to decarbonise its company fleet as fast as technology allows. The company also aims to have the lowest emissions fleet in the industry.

The solution enables Skanska to control access to EV charging centrally, monitor usage and set custom electricity tariffs. Pod Point was selected following a competitive procurement process and the installation was completed within two weeks.

Skanska’s Senior Project Manager Paul Jarvis said: “The installation of the EV chargepoints was a credit to all concerned. All site work was done efficiently, on time and to budget with minimal impact on a busy, occupied site.”

Pod Point CEO Erik Fairbairn said: “This is the largest single site chargepoint installation that we’re aware of in the UK, but also a sign of a larger shift over the past six months, as more businesses wake up to the benefits of EVs. We’ve certainly seen a big increase in enquiries from companies wanting futureproof chargepoint installations that can be scaled up as their fleets make the switch to electric.”

Along with zero carbon emissions, electric vehicles have lower maintenance costs than their petrol or diesel equivalents. This is due to a smaller number of moving parts. There are also tax advantages, with no benefit in kind rates for charging company cars. The BIK rate for purchases of new EVs will fall to 2 per cent in 2020/2021 compared to up to 20 per cent for petrol or diesel vehicles.